Author Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread  (Read 14563591 times)

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Offline slurry

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #950 on: March 31, 2017, 07:16:47 pm »
Hmmm - I could see that yea. I would also really like to have a 437B power meter, the price for one is OK but alas most don't come with the power sensor which can be as much or more than the main unit.  >:(

Can't have too many power meters  ;)
I've got a EPM-442 with two 8481A and two NRP-Z, a Z91 and a Z11 but a 2-channel power meter is sometimes super useful.

I would recommend you to look at a NRP-Z11 on ebay, make sure it is one that includes the NRP-Z4 USB-cable, you can find them for like $500-600 with some patience,
you seldom gets a old 437 with a probe for that amount of money.  (the NRP-Z software is free to download from R&S)
« Last Edit: March 31, 2017, 07:18:37 pm by slurry »
 

Offline slurry

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #951 on: March 31, 2017, 07:21:23 pm »
Finally i found a R&S DPS attenuator for a good price, it arrived today and is in pristine condition 

Thumbwheel bonanza :-+
 

Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #952 on: March 31, 2017, 09:31:52 pm »
I seem to have formed an "HP" dedicated shelf, except there is an empty slot at the end.

What to do, what to do ...  :-//

Let's see. Looks like you have a 5368A frequency counter on the left side, but also a 5334A function gen with LED display. How about a 5316B frequency counter with LED display? It's the right size and you could put it on top of the 5334 to the left of the 5368 to have all the LEDs on one side and the wave stuff in one cluster. Then, the 3468 and 3478 can live on top of the 3457 in DMM-land.

Or maybe a pulse generator should be the one to join the signal-related instruments.
TEA is the way. | TEA Time channel
 

Online xrunner

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #953 on: March 31, 2017, 10:26:44 pm »
I was going with the idea of another one for symmetry :)

Oh yea I love symmetry!

Let's see. Looks like you have a 5368A frequency counter on the left side, but also a 5334A function gen with LED display. How about a 5316B frequency counter with LED display? It's the right size and you could put it on top of the 5334 to the left of the 5368 to have all the LEDs on one side and the wave stuff in one cluster. Then, the 3468 and 3478 can live on top of the 3457 in DMM-land.

Or maybe a pulse generator should be the one to join the signal-related instruments.

On the top, we have a 5384A counter (225 MHz), the 3478A DMM I just got, and then a 3468B DMM

On the bottom, a 5334B  counter (1.3 GHz), and a 3457A DMM

(Also in the pic at the far left is a GPSDO and distribution amp which feed 10 MHz to the two counters)

Yea a 5316B counter would fill the space nicely too. This is tough people. My mother never told me life would be this hard! Well the only thing to do now is to go back to Ebay and start the search.  :popcorn:
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Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #954 on: March 31, 2017, 10:51:34 pm »
Well, I was close on most of them.

Yeah, TEA can be quite a burden. :-DD
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Offline AF6LJ

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #955 on: April 01, 2017, 12:13:01 am »
I have an HP 3312A. I love it nearly as much as my family :)

Talking of HP, I had a moment of weakness and am now the owner of an HP 5328A counter. Nothing fancy. No C input option and no OCXO but it takes an external ref and isn't made of boiled poo like my current Heathkit IM-2410. This is for HF band stuff.

I'll post some photos when it turns up.

The bus inside the counter is exposed via card edge connectors and is well documented and I happen to have a 10MHz OCXO floating around so some magic may happen there, or a GPS reference may be purchased - haven't decided yet :)

This is a breakthrough for me. Just over two years ago I had shoddy crap test gear. It has all been replaced with good quality kit now :)
Very Cool...Cant wait...
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Offline mtdoc

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #956 on: April 01, 2017, 05:41:55 am »
I was going with the idea of another one for symmetry :)

Oh yea I love symmetry!

Yes, symmetry is good! ;D

And I used to have an HP 3312A in there to balance out the bottom HP gear - but it's in the repair pile now. :(


« Last Edit: April 01, 2017, 05:44:08 am by mtdoc »
 
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Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #957 on: April 01, 2017, 05:49:47 am »
Oh, my. You're making me realize the symmetry that's developing in my lab.
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Offline TheSteve

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #958 on: April 01, 2017, 06:26:29 am »
Just realized I have 9 devices that will accept 10 MHz reference in. At first I thought it was too much, then I determined it meant I needed a good distribution amplifier...
VE7FM
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #959 on: April 01, 2017, 07:29:48 am »
Glad you realised the proper course of action!
 

Offline VK5RC

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #960 on: April 01, 2017, 11:25:19 am »
Just realized I have 9 devices that will accept 10 MHz reference in. At first I thought it was too much, then I determined it meant I needed a good distribution amplifier...
Down East Microwave make a nice little unit but it is only 4 outputs - I think the "10-4"
If I remember properly the signal path length of each output is identical so the phase is maintained  :-+
Whoah! Watch where that landed we might need it later.
 

Online xrunner

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #961 on: April 01, 2017, 12:48:00 pm »
Does anyone have an HP 5316B counter? I found one on Ebay but one picture shows the Error LED on, but another pic does not (see attachments).

The manual says that the Error LED will light and show an error code, but it's not clear what it means if no error code is displayed. I'm wondering if the error LED can come on when certain buttons are not depressed. For example in the pic with the error code I do not think any function buttons are pressed.

In any case, if anyone has one of these, is there any reason to believe that the unit in the pics is malfunctioning?, according to what you see? The seller simply says its used and they have no means to test it further.

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Offline AF6LJ

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #962 on: April 01, 2017, 12:53:35 pm »
My 5315B goes into self test mode when no function buttons are depressed and the error light will come on as a part of that test.
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Online PA0PBZ

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #963 on: April 01, 2017, 01:09:56 pm »
My 5315B goes into self test mode when no function buttons are depressed and the error light will come on as a part of that test.

Same for my 5315A, in fact the error light comes on when there is all 5's on the display.
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Offline BFX

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #964 on: April 01, 2017, 09:41:22 pm »
Don't worry, it's normal during self test :)
By the way, I'm looking for knob cover as you see on the photo 8)
« Last Edit: April 01, 2017, 09:45:31 pm by BFX »
 

Offline SingedFingers

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #965 on: April 01, 2017, 10:14:24 pm »
Missing knob covers annoy me to the point of buying an identical unit just to steal the knob covers off it and stick it straight back on eBay. I have this OCD that every bit of kit has to look new and has to be 100% complete.
 

Offline rrinker

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #966 on: April 01, 2017, 10:41:43 pm »
Just realized I have 9 devices that will accept 10 MHz reference in. At first I thought it was too much, then I determined it meant I needed a good distribution amplifier...

 Clearly you need a 10th, or else find a 9MHz reference.  :-DD
I mean, if you REALLY want symmetry...
 

Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #967 on: April 01, 2017, 10:43:21 pm »
Missing knob covers annoy me to the point of buying an identical unit just to steal the knob covers off it and stick it straight back on eBay. I have this OCD that every bit of kit has to look new and has to be 100% complete.

So you're the source of all the T&M gear with missing knob covers!?! Argh! :-DD
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Offline SingedFingers

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #968 on: April 01, 2017, 10:51:51 pm »
Very possibly  >:D

I've got a large box of "just in case" knobs and binding posts as well. I should probably ebay them all and subsequently retire but I might need them (another curse)
 

Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #969 on: April 01, 2017, 10:57:04 pm »
Yes. It's FUSS.
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Online xrunner

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #970 on: April 01, 2017, 11:36:12 pm »
My 5315B goes into self test mode when no function buttons are depressed and the error light will come on as a part of that test.

Same for my 5315A, in fact the error light comes on when there is all 5's on the display.

Don't worry, it's normal during self test :)

^^^ Thanks, well, guess what? I pulled the Ebay trigger on that 5316B to complete the symmetry on that shelf. It looks like a nice one and it has the C channel which can count up to 1 GHz.  :clap:

Oh, my. You're making me realize the symmetry that's developing in my lab.

Oh bitseeker - I realized from these latest posts I and a few others (it's even starting to affect you) have yet another syndrome - TEST.

What is TEST?

Test
Equipment
Symmetry
Temperment

A personal idiosyncrasy desiring identical pieces or brands of test equipment to be side by side. If the afflicted person sees any equipment or brands in their lab that do not have a complementary unit, they will tend to be drawn to Ebay or other sellers to find something to complete the perceived lack of symmetry. This affliction tends to develop gradually over time.

 :-DMM
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Offline Housedad

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #971 on: April 02, 2017, 12:24:27 am »
Instead of temperment, would that be better with transfixiation?
At least I'm still older than my test equipment
 

Online xrunner

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #972 on: April 02, 2017, 12:34:03 am »
Instead of temperment, would that be better with transfixiation?

Sure, I think that fits better.
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Offline AF6LJ

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #973 on: April 02, 2017, 01:29:46 am »
I was going with the idea of another one for symmetry :)

Oh yea I love symmetry!

Yes, symmetry is good! ;D

And I used to have an HP 3312A in there to balance out the bottom HP gear - but it's in the repair pile now. :(


I have been Jones'in for one of those Power Design power supplies.
Sue AF6LJ
 

Offline bitseekerTopic starter

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Re: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread
« Reply #974 on: April 02, 2017, 01:35:45 am »
Added TEST, the transfixation version. By the way, TEST is a recursive acronym. There is no escape!

I have been Jones'in for one of those Power Design power supplies.

Uh, oh. There seems to be a fair bit of Jones'in goin' on lately. Beware of the Power Designs. It'll get you Pretty Definitively. Speaking of which, I don't yet have a symmetrical companion for my PD 2010. Still Jones'in for a PD 5020 to fill that void.

On the HP front, a 6115A would nicely keep my 6114A company.
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